“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
(1 John 5:18-21)
In this portion of scripture, John lists three things that we know:
We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, that we are from God, and that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding.
Many may pose the question; how do we keep from sinning? I believe John gives us the basic starting point: keeping ourselves from idols. John’s focus here is that we are able to discern the false prophets and teachers from the true ones. So much of today’s preaching and teaching focuses on the blessings that the world can give us with no thought about the eternal. The world promotes the things of itself, such as pride, lust, greed, etc., which means the world becomes our idol which we in essence worship and pursue with all our hearts, minds, and strengths.
But keeping ourselves from loving the things of this world is only the starting place. We must come to an understanding of who Jesus is, which John stated many times as being the Son of God. This is critical because it is only through Jesus we have access to that which is eternal and true. In John 10:27-30 he shows us that Jesus is what some call a safety net, because when we are following Him, we have eternal life, and we are secure in Him.
John 10:27-30 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
It really comes down to whom we submit our hearts to, Jesus or the world, it cannot be both.
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”